Monday, April 06, 2009

Three Spiritualists, Three Quotes

1. "It is the enemy who can truly teach us to practice the virtues of compassion and tolerance." (Dalai Lama)

Indeed! One needs a hated person to practice tolerance. But what if there were no hate to begin with? One needs an enemy to practice compassion. What if there was no hostility in oneself to begin with? One needs a hurting person to practice forgiveness. What if it was impossible for one to be hurt? One needs to feel another's sorrow to practice empathy. What if it was impossible for one to feel sorrow?

2. "Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says: 'I need you because I love you." (Mahatma Gandhi)

Indeed! And the maturest love (aka Enlightenment) is: "The world needs Me as I am Love."

3. "The Lord, however, is beyond all natural laws - is not under any rules and regulations, or just as Sri Ramakrishna used to say, He has the child's nature - and that's why we find some failing to get any response even after calling on him for millions of births, while some one else whom we regard as a sinful or penitent man, or a disbeliever, would have Illumination in a flash. On the latter the Lord perhaps lavishes His grace quite unsolicited! You may argue that this man had good merits stored up from previous life, but the mystery is really difficult to understand." (Swami Vivekananda)

Indeed! The mystery is not just difficult to understand, it is impossible to understand.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Indeed! If there were no hate to begin with, if there was no hostility in oneself to begin with, if it was impossible for one to be hurt, if it was impossible for one to feel sorrow, then one lives the mysteries as mysteries while it unfolds in its own time to the extend of the extent of natural attainment(inwardly sprouted out of ones natural instincts) of the above state than mere psychological elimination of the same.

Unknown said...

inability to feel sorrow is a great starting point to act philosophically and rationally.

one still knows that others can feel sorrow and can simply do a systematic utility optimization in one's actions. of course this involves valuation of another human's pain using some axiom.

not feeling sorrow actually brings an urgent need to develop better logical systems to act in the world with other people as the instictive systems are no longer present to force one along.